Pressure Is On For Iraq's Al-jaafari To Step Down

April 04, 2006|By BORZOU DARAGAHI / Los Angeles Times

BAGHDAD, IRAQ — Secretary of State Rice tries to calm the fears of Shiite Muslims over the possible ouster of the prime minister.

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and her British counterpart, wrapping up a brief visit to Iraq on Monday, attempted to placate the fears of the country's Shiite Muslim majority in anticipation of the expected ouster of interim Prime Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari.

Rice and Foreign Secretary Jack Straw heaped praise on Iraq's highest-ranking Shiite cleric, Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani, whose "remarkable spiritual guidance" has helped calm Iraq, Straw said. They also spoke of the Shiite majority's longtime suffering and reiterated that Shiites had the power to choose the nation's top official.

"We know that the largest voting bloc out of the democratic process will nominate that person; that is also only fair in a process like this," Rice told reporters at a news conference.

The soothing words came amid a concerted effort on the part of the United States and Britain as well as Iraq's Sunni Arabs, Kurds and a growing chorus of al-Jaafari's erstwhile Shiite allies to persuade the leader to step aside.

Since being nominated for a four-year term in early February by a Shiite bloc that holds 130 of the parliament's 275 seats, al-Jaafari has been unable to gather enough support to form a cabinet.

Sunday, Rice questioned al-Jaafari's leadership, saying "in the time since his nomination on Feb. 11, he's not been able" to put together a government.

Al-Jaafari, a religious scholar, gained the Shiite coalition's nom ination by a single vote thanks to the support of radical cleric Muqtada al-Sadr.

Iraq's majority Shiites, Sunnis and Kurds have been locked in a frequently violent power struggle since the 2003 U.S.-led toppling of Saddam Hussein's dictatorship.

Officials and ordinary Iraqis worry that the political deadlock in creating a new government has created a political vacuum and contributed to ongoing violence, which included several car bombings Monday and the deaths of at least six U.S. military personnel killed in violence over the weekend.

"You cannot have a circumstance where there is a political vacuum in a country like this that faces so much threat of violence," Rice told reporters.

Officials in Washington and London have been seeking the formation of a new government as a sign of progress to bolster faltering public support for the Iraq war.

Although al-Jaafari has refused to resign, even Shiite officials predict his days are numbered.

A high-ranking member of al-Jaafari's alliance, speaking on condition of anonymity, said three of the seven blocs within the Shiite coalition had submitted letters demanding he withdraw. *